Mistranslation
by Kiterie
Summary: When Iruka starts finding flowers being left in random places for him, the message they leave is one of danger... or is it?


It wasn't unusual for Iruka to get flowers from students, but the fact that there was a bouquet of kakitsubata tied with a rather complex knot laying on his desk during summer break was a bit out of the ordinary. He stared at them for a moment, nudged them with a pencil, then picked them up and carried them to the teachers' lounge to find a vase. He was cutting the stems under water when it occurred to him that they didn't grow near Konoha. Inoichi's flower shop sold them, but they were always neatly cut and arranged. The ends of the ones he was cutting were crushed or shredded in places. Moreover, they were starting to wilt. Iruka shrugged it off, telling himself one of his kids had probably gotten them from a potted plant or something of the sort.

Two days after, though, he'd found jasmine tucked in a stack of mission reports. Three days after that, he'd been drinking tea while writing the lesson on the board, and when he turned around to take another sip, several stalks of lavender were laying purposefully across the rim of the cup. A week later he found a sagiso on the windowsill of his bedroom which he knew was definitely _not_ from one of his students. At least… he certainly hoped not, because it was getting warmer and he didn't always sleep with much on. If his students had discovered where he lived, well, he was not sure he'd survive the heat if he had to dress decently.

After that, the flowers stopped for three weeks, and then he'd gotten to school and found another bunch. He'd been in the process of opening the windows to let the breeze in when the flowers had fallen and caught his eye. The bouquet of suisen, bara, and tsubaki was tied with the same advanced knot that the first bunch had been. They were mostly dried out, like they'd been there for a few days and crunched a little under his fingers.

Iruka frowned and got out a notebook. Flowers were often used to deliver messages. Even though he was in the village, it was still easily plausible somebody was trying to say something to him and he hadn't had the presence of mind to spot it earlier. To be fair, he hadn't received all that many flowers, as messages or not.

The first had been the kakitsubata so he scribbled that down and wrote "loyalty" and "favorable news" next to it since those were the two most common messages it was used for. Next he wrote jasmine, "Not hostile" and then lavender, which meant "faithfulness," but was usually used to indicate the same as the kakitsubata or that simply nothing had changed and the mission was continuing as planned. Sagiso caused him to pause. His stomach dropped out from under him and Iruka realized how lax he'd been. Weeks had gone by, and he hadn't even thought about it. Sagiso was often used for a threat or a warning. It indicated that they "knew where you slept" or that you were being watched. Iruka looked back over what he'd written and considered it, particularly the jasmine. Did it mean the person sending him the message was an ally or that the person watching him wasn't a threat?

Iruka set the pen down and picked up the bouquet. The suisen was respect, which could mean that somebody powerful was watching him. Tsubaki flowers were longing and were used for requesting a replacement or asking for assistance. They just meant something was needed. Bara flowers indicated "innocence," "silence," or "devotion." Did that mean he wasn't allowed to tell anyone or that they were hoping he was innocent or devoted? It could even mean whoever was watching him was innocent and not a threat or that they were very devoted to their mission and couldn't be swayed.

He wanted more than anything to take what he knew and run to Inoichi or Ibiki for confirmation, but if he was being told to stay quiet for his safety that could put him or the person sending him messages in danger. He couldn't simply do nothing though because if they wanted him to do nothing they wouldn't be sending him a message. He couldn't return the messages and ask for clarification because he didn't know who the sender was, which meant his first step was figuring that out and the only clues he had were the flowers. Iruka looked down at the paper, frowned and tucked the notebook in his vest pocket. Leaving it lying around was just as good as giving it to his stalker.

Pretending everything was fine and trying to go about his day was not easy when he was doing his best not to jump at shadows. _"Whoever is sending the messages wouldn't let anything happen to the kids,"_ Iruka reminded himself silently. A change in routine was easily more dangerous so he stuck with it.

When the bell finally rang for the end of classes, Iruka found he was both relieved the kids would be out of the way and not. If his watcher had been studying him for over a month then they knew those kids were his weakness. Until he knew for sure what the message meant, he would worry about them.

The entire trip to the mission room Iruka could feel eyes watching him, but he felt nothing when he search with his chakra. They were either good or familiar, both possibilities worried him. The fact that the message could easily be indicating either or both only made the knot forming in his stomach that much worse.

The bright side to his day was only in his being assigned to the mission room meant he could look into his clues. It was easy enough to check the mission records for the last month, even with the coded way they handled who came and went and where they were or had been he knew it would be a simple logic problem. Time consuming, but not difficult for somebody who basically had to be able to map it out on a daily basis.

To keep from being too obvious about it he would simply look at a page or two whenever he had to file scrolls. Never spending more than a ten minutes or so writing names down.

He used the same notebook and wrote down all the possibilities for anyone who would be on a mission that would take them places the flowers grew. It took over three pages each for the lavender and the jasmine. They were far more common than some of the others, but all of them had a least a page. There was also several names on each of jounin he hadn't seen in the village a day or so before each flower, a couple of which he was more than a bit certain were ANBU or simply on S rank missions during those periods.

"What are you up to, Iruka?" Kotetsu asked, trying to see what he was writing.

It was a hard to resist looking up. "Just-" Iruka felt the panic rising. "-trying to pull some numbers together for my class on the average length of missions by difficulty level and distance. I want to teach them how we factor the time it will take, when we should be concerned, and at what point we send out a rescue. I think it might help some of them to see real numbers and the data we've been using is kind of old."

Yawning, Kotetsu dropped his head against the table and pretended to snore. "That is so boring."

Iruka chuckled and considered adding several days worth of candidates to account for delays, before deciding that was silly. All he really needed was where they'd gone and the day they were back to know if it lined up on his time map.

Things slowed down during dinner and now that he'd come up with an excuse Iruka was able to spend a bit more time looking the logs over. By the time his shift ended he'd actually managed to get everything he needed and his carefully scribbled notes were safely tucked in his pocket.

He took the long way back to his apartment, stopping at Ichiraku's to pick up a very late dinner. It was quiet and despite the situation he felt himself relaxing. Not entirely, but enough that he thought he might even be able to sleep. That was… until he opened his door.

Inside on his coffee table sat a potted saboten with a single, very large bloom. Iruka frowned and stared at it. He had no idea what it meant. It was potted in one of his coffee cups and there was loose dirt dusting the coffee table around it. Not one of Inoichi's then.

Shutting the door behind him, Iruka searched the apartment for any sign of entry. None of his traps had been tripped and he couldn't pick up even a slight trace of chakra. It was both aggravating and worrying; setting that aside he got to work on his logic problem. It took him a little under an hour and he got it down to a few possibilities. He looked at the cactus again and knew who it was from. It had to be Kakashi. He was the only one who'd be back from the Land of Wind that was also on his short little list and Iruka knew that because he'd filed the mission report.

Iruka stared at the flower, frustration bubbling under his skin. On the one hand Kakashi was the one watching over him so he was safe, on the other he had absolutely not the slightest idea what the little saboten meant. It wasn't one he'd ever seen used and he couldn't remember even teaching it. The needles could be used to relay the number of enemies, but never an entire plant. Was it supposed to mean back up was coming, more enemies, what and why hadn't Kakashi gone to the hokage or Ibiki. It didn't make sense. He didn't know what he should do either. Was he supposed to stay there and do nothing? Did Kakashi want him to take it to the hokage or get help? But then why did he leave it on his coffee table, why bother getting a mug and planting it, why not use something more obvious in it's message?

Giving up on puzzling it out, Iruka slipped out of his apartment and down the hall to Suzume's place. He knocked. She would know and it would all make sense.

The door opened a few moments later and Suzume smiled at him. "Hey, Iruka."

"I-" Iruka stopped, frowned. He would probably end up in trouble, but there was no way he was going to be able to sleep at this rate. "What are the meanings tied to saboten flowers?"

Suzume blinked at him, laughed very slightly before pointedly swallowing the sound. She looked down the hall towards his apartment then back at him. "Is there any reason you'd like to know?"

Iruka couldn't recall ever hearing Suzume giggle and felt his cheeks warm slightly, something was definitely amiss, but he wasn't quite sure how to get his answer without giving up at least part of the information. "I think somebody is trying to tell me something and I need to know."

"Oh?" She arched a brow curiously. "Well, it generally implies desire, lust, and sex."

The tension drained immediately and Iruka heaved a sigh. "That pervy bastard. I should shove that damn plant where the-"

Suzume cleared her throat. "I presume this has something to do with Hatake-san; in which case you might not want to actually do that."

"How?" Iruka wondered, more than a bit surprised she'd guessed.

Arching her brows, Suzume stared at him. "I've seen him sitting in the tree outside your classroom twice in the last month and he was here earlier." She pushed her glasses up her nose and smiled. "That plus the fact everyone knows what he reads and that he's interested in you means it's not the most difficult leap to make."

Iruka could feel the blush crawl over his face and he was grateful it was Suzume and not someone prone to gossip. "Everyone thinks he's interested in me?"

"Maybe not everyone, but all of us at the academy do," She shrugged. "Giving you flowers even if it is prickly and pervy seems to indicate we were right."

"Thank you, for your help," Iruka inclined his head and headed out to find Kakashi. Of course he'd have to stop and pick up a reply to the message he still didn't entirely understand.

Iruka found him reading in a tree near the training grounds. He threw the kunai directly at Kakashi's head.

Without even looking up Kakashi caught it by the handle; it poofed an instant later. When the smoke cleared he was left holding a single stalk of freesia. Kakashi looked from the flower to Iruka.

"Sex and lust?" Iruka shook his head. "You childish, immature pervert."

"It got your attention," Kakashi countered, his eye not covered by the hitai-ate closed in crinkled amusement and the mask shifted slightly. "Finally."

"I noticed before that." Maybe not long before that, but he wasn't going to tell Kakashi that. "I just thought I was in danger and being watched."

"I was being romantic."

Iruka walked over the tree and leapt into it. "You could be a bit more clear the next time."

Kakashi tucked his book away and stood up. "Karakoromo, Kitsutsu narenishi, Tsuma shi areba, Harubaru kinuru, Tabi o shizo omou."

 _"_ _I have travelled so far, and my heart aches when I think of my robes and my beloved wife."_ The poem was familiar and Iruka was surprised he hadn't realized it. "Wife?" Iruka smothered a laugh.

The skin visible above the blue cloth of Kakashi's mask pinked slightly. "Mah, the sentiment remains. I came across the kakitsubata and I thought of that poem, home, and you."

"Hmm… and what about the rest?" Iruka wouldn't admit it, but he was enjoying seeing Kakashi embarrassed and the romantic poetry was nice too.

"Jasmine because we're friends-" Kakashi paused his voice taking on a quiet serious tone. "-and the lavender because no matter what I'd like that to remain true."

Iruka was touched; his heart did a strange little flutter and he nodded.

"Sagiso's actual meaning is _my thoughts will follow you into your dreams_." Kakashi took a step closer. "Sometimes when I come back, when I need a reminder that I'm home I drop by to look in on you just to make sure you're safe."

Having Kakashi's complete attention suddenly seemed more than he could take and Iruka looked down. His face was practically burning and now all he could do was stare at the freesia. Clearly he was the one who was immature and childish and not Kakashi. "And?" Somehow he managed to get the word out. He really did want to hear the rest.

"You make me feel a lot of things, Iruka. Respect." Kakashi took another step closer to him. "Devotion." He a kunai out of his pocket and cut the stem of the flower he was holding, leaving it only a couple of inches in length. " _Longing._ "

Iruka continued to stare at the flower, feeling even more embarrassed by his choice.

"Childish and immature." Kakashi reached over and tucked the flower into Iruka's vest pocket. His tone was light.

His cheeks burned, but Iruka forced himself to look up. He'd intended to be on the other side of this with Kakashi being embarrassed for being an idiot and somehow things had turned on him. "Oh."

"When you didn't seem to be understanding I took the mission to Suna as an excuse to get the saboten." Kakashi pulled down his mask. "Sometimes a more direct approach is necessary."

Iruka laughed, he couldn't help it. He felt ridiculous, but happy. "At least there was nothing I could misunderstand with that one." Leaning forward, Iruka kissed him lightly on the lips.

Before he could pull back, Kakashi caught him around the waist, pulled him close, and returned the kiss.

End


End file.
